Steven M. Sipple: Would NU score big with Pelini?
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He doesn’t remember all of the details. But he recalls that it was a home game. The sun was shining. The opposing team was driving down the field. The ball was snapped, the quarterback was just starting his five-step drop into the pocket, and …
“I hear Coach (Bo) Pelini say, ‘Ah, crap, that’s going to be a touchdown’ — literally before the quarterback even finished his drop, long before he started his throwing motion,” former Nebraska linebacker Steve Safranek said this week. “And Bo just turns around and walks away. He doesn’t even watch the play. Three seconds later, the ball is thrown down the middle of the field. Touchdown.”
Safranek, a backup Nebraska linebacker from 2001-2003, signaled in plays from the sideline for Pelini in 2003 when Pelini served as the Huskers’ defensive coordinator. On this particular play, standout middle linebacker Barrett Ruud was assigned the deep middle part of the field. It was tough duty, but Ruud was especially fast and athletic.
However, Ruud took that one false step forward. Bad news. The slot receiver bolted toward — you guessed it — the deep middle part of the field. Pelini right away noticed Ruud’s errant step, and that was all the coach needed to see. Indeed, touchdown.
Would Nebraska score a touchdown by hiring Pelini as its next head coach? The hire appears to be on the verge of occurring.
A lot of people feel Pelini is a strong fit for the Nebraska job, although Turner Gill has garnered ample support. Both men are relatively young coaches excelling in their current roles — Pelini, 39, as LSU’s third-year defensive coordinator and Gill, 45, as Buffalo’s second-year head coach. Both have bright futures in the business. Players obviously play hard for both guys.
Pelini, however, possesses some intangible qualities that might make him particularly well-suited for the Nebraska job. For instance, Pelini’s relatively rugged and cocksure persona probably would hold up well under the withering pressure that often permeates the Husker head coaching position.
Pelini is ultraconfident in both his defensive approach and his overall coaching ability. He said recently there’s “absolutely no question” he’s ready to be a head coach.
Bill Callahan struggled with the expectations and scrutiny at Nebraska. You could see pressure taking a toll on him. Any Husker head coach had better have thick skin. He had better be ultraconfident and unwavering in his assuredness with his system. I’m not suggesting Gill wouldn’t handle the heat at NU, I’m just saying I think it might come more easily for Pelini. It’s just a thought.
Pelini’s confidence in large part stems from his wisdom, his players say. The Youngstown, Ohio, native has worked for a long list of the game’s top minds in the NFL and college, men such as George Seifert, Pete Carroll and Bob Stoops.
Pelini’s intelligence, confidence and hard edge tend to rub off on his players. In 2003, as Nebraska’s interim head coach for the Alamo Bowl, Pelini’s personality obviously rubbed off on both sides of the ball. The Huskers emerged from the pregame locker room snorting fire and defeated Michigan State 17-3. Big Red was razor-sharp that night.
Ruud, now a starter for the NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is a strong backer of Pelini. Like Safranek, Ruud speaks of Pelini’s ability to foresee occurrences on the field and anticipate how offenses will respond in certain situations.
Ruud remembers Pelini installing a new blitz early in the week of the Texas A&M game in 2003. Pelini guaranteed the blitz would work well and, in fact, told Ruud he would pick off a pass as a result. Sure enough, Nebraska employed the blitz, a Texas A&M receiver ran a slant route, and Ruud jumped in front of the receiver, snared the ball and sprinted for a touchdown.
Maybe this Pelini guy really would be a “touchdown” for Nebraska.
One coach has told me that he always appreciated Pelini’s willingness to try to learn why a player makes mistakes. Pelini tells fellow coaches that players aren’t trying to make mistakes. He tells coaches to take time to ask players what was going through their minds on a certain play.
“He really wasn’t a big yeller and screamer,” Ruud said of Pelini. “But when he did yell, it served a purpose. You knew something was wrong. Sometimes when a coach yells all of the time, it goes in one ear and out the other.”
Safranek and Ruud appreciated the way Pelini related life occurrences to football. He often wowed Nebraska players with his messages on Friday nights, when the defense met as a group in the team hotel. Special-teams players eventually began showing up for the Friday night sessions.
One of Pelini’s most frequent messages: “The time is now,” he would say. Seize the moment.
All signs indicate the time is now for Pelini to lead Nebraska.
He’ll be the first to tell you that he’s ready for the challenge, and the Huskers could use a big dose of unwavering confidence right now.
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.
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